


A Breath of Fresh of Air

by SassyUnicorn7



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Canon, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gauntlets and Greaves, Volume 2 (RWBY), What Could Have Been...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 07:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13453182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassyUnicorn7/pseuds/SassyUnicorn7
Summary: Everyone loves the Dance Dance Infiltration episode in Volume 2, but what happened once Cinder finished her mission and let her two underlings have a little free time?  Mercury seeks out some solitude on the balcony and gets a little company he doesn't necessarily want, but also doesn't necessarily shy away from.





	A Breath of Fresh of Air

**Author's Note:**

> My first G&G one shot! I've been thinking about doing this one for a while now :) Enjoy!
> 
> Side Note: For those of you who like listening to music for dance scenes (or just reading in general) I was listening to the Final Fantasy X song "Suteki da ne" (Isn't it Wonderful) for the majority of this fic. I had the instrumental version, but the vocal one is beautiful as well! (^^)/

The night’s mission was a success. Although she encountered a minor hiccup in the form of a red-clad inconvenience, Cinder managed to successfully infiltrate Beacon’s computer database and hack the system. If the virus worked like it was supposed to, Cinder would not only be able to rig the tournament fights, but gain access to the Atlas military fleet and alter their targeting parameters.

“It’s too easy,” the silver-haired recruit of the criminal mastermind said with a snicker as he waltzed out onto an open terrace. Mercury didn’t know what exactly he was getting into when he originally signed on as Cinder’s cohort, but he definitely thought it’d be more of a challenge.

 _Maybe the tournament will be a little more fun,_ he thought with a sigh, inhaling a big gulp of fresh air. Well, as fresh as city air was going to get. He was a country boy who grew up in the mountains, so he was a bit of a snob when it came to the cleanliness of his oxygen.

Regardless of how polluted it was, the cool night air felt extraordinary against his hot skin. All of the body heat radiating around the ballroom was starting to get to him, and the three layers of clothing his tuxedo consisted of weren’t helping matters. He didn’t understand why the school’s dance attire couldn’t be tank tops and T-shirts.

 _Actually…_ Mercury considered, recalling all of the bare backs and long legs exposed thanks to the assortment of dresses the ladies in attendance were parading around in. _The dress code is fairly decent._

Maybe he should’ve been more like that Jaune kid and worn a skirt. He’d be a heck of a lot cooler. Well, cooler in the temperature sense of the word, at least. He doubted the look would do much for his social status in terms of _coolness._

Mercury laughed at the thought of himself in a dress, resting his elbows on top of the stone railing outlining the terrace. As remarkable as the lean muscles comprising his top half would’ve looked in such a revealing ensemble, his bottom half would’ve definitely raised some eyebrows in more ways than one.

 _Can’t go giving the game away just yet,_ he reminded himself, tilting his head up to gaze at the clear night sky. It seemed more purple than usual, but that was probably because of how bright the broken moon was.

“Bright sky at night, Huntress delight,” a chipper voice said from beside him.

Had Mercury not possessed complete control over his reflexes, he might’ve jumped. The girl at his side literally popped up out of nowhere. She had long, luscious locks of blond hair that waved like fire all the way down her back. Her white dress was very becoming of her curvaceous figure and, again, reminded Mercury of why he supported the dress code.

At first, he couldn’t place why she seemed so familiar, but then he realized she was the same bubbly hostess that greeted him and his partner upon their arrival to the dance. She was also one of the students Cinder was considering to exploit during the tournament. Mercury thought about trying to get information out of her that might benefit their master plan, but then he remembered he was off duty for the remainder of the night and wasn’t required to do shit.

 _Lucky for you,_ he thought.

The blonde stood in a similar manner as him—arms leaning atop the railing, back bent, chin up—but where his eyes carried a cold glint, hers held a distinct sparkle. Typical bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Huntress-wannabe.

 _Tch, reality is gonna smack her like a sledgehammer one day,_ Mercury bitterly thought as he let his gaze leave the blonde’s attractive form and fall back to the city he knew would be in utter chaos in just a few days time. All because of him and his _team._

Mercury cringed. He still didn’t care for how that word tasted, and would only use it if it were dripping with sarcasm. The same went for the word _friends._

Although he considered Emerald and Cinder allies for the time being, he knew the only person he could truly count on was himself. Concepts like teammates and friendship were a joke, and he thought it hilarious how all of the academies glorified them. Hell, the entire Vytal Festival was based on the four warring nations coming together in harmony and teaming up to end the violence between their people peacefully. Little did they know that one of the headmasters—one of their _friends_ —was plotting against them. Mercury wouldn’t even be there had it not been for that very headmaster’s help.

 _Idiots. All of them,_ Mercury mused with a small shake of his head and a ghost of a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” the blonde asked.

“You’re still here?” Mercury countered in a monotonous drawl, not even turning to face her.

“Why? Am I bothering you?”

“Why do I get the feeling you’ll stay no matter what I say?”

“Do you always answer every question with a question?”

“Would you leave if I said yes?”

There was a brief pause followed by a, “Why do you want me to leave?”

“Do _you_ think I want you to leave?”

“Don’t you think that’s the vibe you give off if you don’t even look at the person you’re talking to?”

Mercury snapped his head and let his eyes meet the inquisitive blonde’s. She didn’t appear near as curious as she did self-assured. She wasn’t asking questions to get answers anymore. She was asking questions because, somehow, they’d turned this little back-and-forth into a game, one in which she seemed determined to win.

Mercury smirked.

_Game on._

“Is my vibe what prompted you to come over here?” he countered.

“Are you that full of yourself?”

“Would you like to be that full of myself, too?”

He knew she understood the implication of his words thanks to the creeping blush spreading across her pale cheeks and the slight faltering of her confident smile. She recovered fast enough, though her face remained lightly flushed.

“D-don’t you think that’s a bit presumptuous?” she finally managed to get out after regaining her composure.

“Didn’t you know _presumptuous_ is my middle name?” Mercury replied with a wink. He was turned so only one elbow lingered on the railing. The game and the girl had earned enough of his attention for him to open up a little more.

“How weird were your parents to name you that?” she asked with a laugh.

And just like that, all amusement was wiped clean from Mercury’s face. He should’ve stopped the game—stopped the conversation from going any further—but his competitive side outweighed his rational one, and he asked, “Do you have to bring up parents?”

“Sensitive subject?” she teased, completely oblivious to the dangerous territory she was trespassing into.

“What’s it to you, Blondie?”

“Blondie? You think that’s original?”

Mercury sighed and averted his eyes, turning his body so that he was once again leaning against the railing with both arms, closed off from the quizzical little lady who continued to stand her ground. “You win,” he muttered, hoping her victory would also result in her departure.

“I’m used to it,” she said, and the way she spoke made it sound like she really was. “So mommy issues or daddy issues?” she added nonchalantly. She might as well have been asking if he preferred ketchup or mustard on his cheeseburger.

“I thought we were done with the question game,” Mercury said, his tone a bit darker than he intended.

“We are,” she confirmed, “this is just me trying to start up a conversation.”

Mercury breathed out the driest, most ironic laugh he could muster. “I’m sorry my hints have been so discreet, but I’m not really up for a conversation. I kind of came out here to get away from the party. Away from everyone.” He fixed the girl with a pointed look, “and that includes you and your boobs, Tits McGee.”

“Tits McGee?”

“Well, since Blondie isn’t very original…”

“It’s Yang,” she said flatly, her purple eyes looking far more fierce than they had the last time Mercury cast a glance in her direction.

“What’s Yang?”

“My name, idiot.”

“It’s Mercury.”

“I thought it was _presumptuous.”_

“That’s my _middle_ name,” he corrected.

Completely unintentionally, the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile once again. He didn’t even realize what was happening until he noticed Yang was smiling, too.

“Sorry if you’re not up to talking, Mercury,” Yang said, turning her gaze out to the city. “I just… I have issues with my parents, too. So I understand if you’re not exactly thrilled about telling a stranger such personal info. It’s just nice when I meet people with something like that in common. Makes me feel like I’m not so alone, you know?”

“Issues as in Mommy won’t let you go see rated R movies and Daddy won’t let you date until you’re married?” Mercury asked with a scoff.

“Issues as in Mommy left when I was a baby, Mommy number two died shortly after that, and Daddy was never really around since he had to work to support his dwindling family, so I had to raise myself as well as my younger sister pretty much my whole life.”

Mercury blinked.

_Damn._

What amazed Mercury more than the fact that Yang had just disclosed the very same information she said she understood people not disclosing was that she’d done so unflinchingly straight-faced, without missing a beat. Who was this chick?

Mercury awkwardly cleared his throat, but he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to say he was sorry because he wasn’t. Mercury wasn’t the one prying for juicy tidbits, looking for any excuse to talk. He also wasn’t responsible for Yang’s mother abandoning her and her father’s absence in her life. He held no blame in anything, yet here he was searching for words he could convey to a stranger he just met who would up and drop a bomb like that for no fucking reason whatsoever. _Who was this chick?!_

Before Mercury could deliberate a fitting response any further, Yang spoke again.

“And just when you thought I couldn’t make the situation any more uncomfortable,” she said with a breathy laugh at herself, standing up so that only the tips of her fingers rested on the stone railing.

Mercury shrugged. “Eh. I’ve been in way worse embarrassing situations.”

“Like your match with Pyrrha the other day?”

Mercury had to bite his tongue to keep from divulging anything Yang didn’t need to know. He’d thrown that fight on purpose. The whole point was to figure out the Invincible Girl’s weakness. Although he merely deduced the basics of her semblance during their match, Mercury was sure they’d be able to use that intelligence to their advantage come tournament time. The competitors were like little puppets and Cinder was their marionettist. Their greatest strength could just as easily become their ultimate weakness should Cinder pull their strings in just the right way.

It was scary how manipulative she could be. Well, scary to _other_ people. Mercury had experienced far worse nightmares than an egomaniac on a power trip. That’s why he knew that if push came to shove and Cinder ever betrayed him, he’d be ready to fire his boot bullets in places that bitch might never recover from.

 _Teammates my ass,_ he silently scoffed, puckering his lips from the taste of the tart word.

“Hey, don’t feel bad,” Yang said, giving his shoulder an encouraging pat. “Every guy that fights Pyrrha gets his ass handed to him. She’s in a league of her own. But you seemed to do pretty well at the beginning of the match.”

Mercury couldn’t fight the smirk slanting up the side of his face from that remark. “Guess I lucked out,” he said, standing up to face Yang. “She did just finish a beatdown, after all. She was probably tired and made me look better than I actually am.”

“Probably,” Yang agreed. Mercury struggled not to laugh at the irony of it all. “So you fight with your feet, huh?” Yang asked, sparing a quick glance down at his shoes, which—unbeknownst to her thanks to his nice, long dress slacks—were actually his fighting boots. Mercury liked to be ready just in case. “You think that strategy will give you a _leg up_ on the competition?”

Mercury’s brain had to process the horrible pun twice before he could even contemplate a reply. “Not necessary,” he said with a suave air about him. “I already have the upper hand.”

Yang blinked in confusion.

“You get it? Because you fight with your fists?”

Yang’s brow furrowed. “How do you know that?”

_Oh, shit!_

Mercury’s eyes went wide as his mind scrambled to think of a cover-up that would make sense. He wasn’t supposed to know about her abilities. Cinder was the one who told him about her. “Didn’t you fight the same day I did?”

Yang shook her head. “Not that day, no.”

“Well… It must’ve been some other day, then.”

“When?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Don’t start another question game with me!” Yang nearly shouted. She was still smiling, so she must’ve found this amusing, but something told Mercury if he didn’t give her an answer, all pleasantries would be over and done with. 

_What’s a good lie?_ he thought, his mind racing as fast as it did in the thick of a fight when he concocted clever ways to outmaneuver his opponents. Mercury sort of wished this _were_ a battle instead of a conversation. Battles were easier to deal with than girls.

“I…” he hesitated, then closed his eyes and hung his head so as to make his performance more believable. “I thought you were cute, so I asked about you.” He had to fight the urge to gag even harder than the urge he had to laugh at his bad acting skills.

Yang was back to blushing. “Asked who?”

“Around,” Mercury said, rubbing the back of his neck. Lying was one thing, selling it was another. He had a feeling his body language was working in his favor, though, for her cheeks kept getting rosier. 

Had Yang possessed any inkling of Mercury’s true intentions, it would’ve been obvious that something was suspicious. But she—like the rest of her clueless academy—had no idea, so he came off looking like an innocent schoolboy trying to hide the fact that he had an interest in her.

It wasn’t all that hard to believe. She was pretty hot.

“And?” Yang prompted.

“And I found out you fight with shotgun gauntlets, you’re part of team RWBY, and your younger sister is your team’s leader.” He silently thanked the gods he remembered even half of what Cinder had told him about Yang during one of her many babblings on potential candidates to sabotage.

Yang stared at him, letting the silence hang heavy. The facts he knew about her weren’t really _“school boy crush”_ material. Maybe she _was_ getting suspicious. _Fuck._

They could hear the muffled sounds of the next song starting to play back in the ballroom. It was a cool techno remix that Mercury actually knew and kind of liked. Had he not been more focused on reading Blondie’s expression and trying to decipher if she bought his bullshit or not, he might’ve bobbed his head to the beat.

“That’s it?” she finally asked, cutting the thick air between them like a spearsword through a slab of concrete. “That’s all the pertinent information you got about me?”

Mercury folded his arms. “I guess I’m not as incessant about asking questions as _some_ people.”

Yang’s blush deepened a bit more before quickly fading away. “Sorry if you make me curious.”

Mercury cocked an eyebrow. “I make you curious?”

The tense air was back, but this time it was Yang’s turn to scramble for excuses.

“Well… I mean… Cute exchange student who almost held a candle to Pyrrha with slick moves I’ve never even seen before? You _had_ to have known you had girls talking about you.”

Mercury slowly shook his head, though the thought of being so popular in such of short amount of time did prompt the corner of his mouth to stretch into a smirk. He never attended school growing up, so it was nice to know he kicked ass at it.

 _“Seriously?!”_ Yang shrilled, her tone pure incredulous. “I’m pretty sure you’ve got your own fan club now!”

Mercury’s smirk got even more smug as a possibility crossed his mind. “Are you a member?” he asked.

Yang rolled her eyes. “Not even close.”

“President, then?”

Yang made a face that told Mercury the answer was _“hell no!”_ and shoved his shoulder, eliciting a laugh from him. A really _good_ laugh. Like, he actually felt it bursting from his diaphragm. That shit was genuine. _Weird…_

“So… did you come here with anybody?” Yang asked, pulling her long, wavy hair behind her ear and giving Mercury’s eyes access to more of her creamy white skin. That dress had to be one of Mercury’s top three favorites of the night.

“You checked us in, so you should remember,” he pointed out.

“Right. But she’s just your partner, isn’t she?”

Mercury nodded. “That’s right.” _Kind of right. Partners for now, at least._

Yang drew her hands behind her back and looked up at Mercury with an angelic twinkle in her eyes. “Would she be mad if I stole a dance?” she asked.

Mercury shrugged, indifferent. “Dunno. You’ll have to ask her, but I don’t think Emerald really cares for dancing all that much.”

Yang’s angelic expression dropped into a deadpan glare so fast Mercury had to do a double take and make sure he was still looking at the same person. “I meant with you, dummy.”

Mercury’s signature smirk helped to lighten Yang’s less-than-amused mood. “I figured. Just teasing. Chillax.”

With a hand to his chin and a soft hum to his lips, Mercury considered the proposition. If Cinder caught him dancing with Yang—which she without doubt would—questions would just as undoubtedly follow. And not the silly, getting-to-know-you kind of questions Yang liked to spout; questions that would jeopardize his standing with the boss lady and, quite possibly, jeopardize his life.

He was too valuable to the mission, at least until the tournament was over, so Cinder wouldn’t try anything until then. Mercury wasn’t expendable just yet, which gave him a little more peace of mind when he offered Yang his hand to lead her to the dance floor.

 _Might as well have a little fun,_ he decided.

It was hard to ignore the spark of electricity that passed between them when her fingers curled around his. Clearly, it was a bit of static shock, but somehow it felt more than that. Their eyes shot to one another’s at the feel of the sudden jolt, both nervously laughing and pretending it hadn’t happened as they cupped their hands together and made their way inside. Apart from the electricity, there was another notable difference. Unlike the coldblooded hands of Emerald and Cinder, both of whom Mercury had spun around the dance floor earlier that evening as a means of keeping face, Yang’s hand was warm. 

It was… kind of nice.

They found a spot close to the center of the floor that seemed to be vacated just for them. The techno song Mercury liked was still playing, so most of their movements involved bouncing and popping to the beat, something Mercury highly enjoyed thanks to Yang’s two biggest endowments. Eventually, one of Yang’s teammates slid into their dance space along with her golden-haired date. Although he couldn’t remember her name, he _could_ remember that underneath the pretty ribbon decorating her head was a pair of fully functioning cat ears. Small details like that stuck out to him during Cinder’s briefings.

The Faunus girl’s dance partner was also a Faunus, though he didn’t hide his animal attribute in the slightest, letting his long monkey tail dance as wildly as the rest of him. Mercury almost wished he had a tail he could dance with, too. This guy made it look so entertaining!

Mercury hadn’t intended to stay on the dance floor past that one song, but then the next one came, and the next one, and the next one, until the DJ was announcing the last song of the evening and requesting everyone have a safe trip back to their dormitories.

Every song up until then had been upbeat and energetic. This last one, however, was a slow song.

Something in Mercury’s gut knew he should make a move to leave—tell Blondie it was nice knowing her and he’d see her around, which, for her sake, he kind of hoped he wouldn’t. But he honestly, _surprisingly,_ had been having a really good time and he, very selfishly, didn’t want to end it. Not before he absolutely had to.

“One more?” he asked, extending his hand.

Yang smiled and accepted the gesture. “One more,” she agreed.

Mercury pulled her close and guided the hand he’d taken to his back, just below his right shoulder blade. He then slid his other hand down her arm, smirking when he noticed the goose bumps his fingertips caused before taking her free hand and clasping it in his. There was something about the perfect way her hand fit his that made him smile. Not smirk. Smile.

“I think I made your partner mad,” Yang whispered in his ear after a few graceful strides around the floor.

Mercury glanced around the room until he spotted Emerald. She was standing alone next to a column and a batch of balloons, arms folded, lips straight, eyes heated.

“What makes you say that?” Mercury joked, unable to hide how amusing he found Emerald’s clear contempt.

Yang shook her head, though she was evidently amused by all of this as well. “I thought you said you were just friends.”

“I definitely _never_ said that,” Mercury countered. And he was right. He never used that word unless he meant it sarcastically, and he wouldn’t risk Yang picking up on that kind of disrespect towards his _teammate._

“So you’re more than friends?” Yang asked.

Mercury sighed. “Why do people need labels?”

That point quieted Yang a moment before she agreed with a, “You’re right. Sorry. No more labels. You are what you are.”

Yang’s silence after that conclusion allowed Mercury to really soak in the music. It was a nice instrumental song with a sorrowful violin solo that encouraged him to take longer strides and really slide Yang around. He spun her into a low dip, but almost lost his hold on her back and had to compensate by lunging further and gripping her tighter. The hand she had resting behind his back quickly latched onto his shoulder to catch herself while the other clutched at his neck. They stayed frozen in that dip, eyes locked with one another, chests heaving, hearts racing, and lips much too close for comfort.

Or… were they?

“So… if you _were_ to label _us,_ what would we be?” Yang asked, gulping down the nerves it must’ve taken to ask that.

Mercury rolled his eyes. “What is it with you and questions?”

He regained enough balance to bring both of them to an upright position, putting an ample amount of space between them in the process. He caught Emerald glaring in the background again and came to the disheartening realization that his shenanigans needed to culminate as quickly as possible.

“I should probably go,” he said. “My partner is getting more pissed by the minute.”

Yang clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back on her heels. “Oh, right, mine, too,” she said, glancing to her Faunus friend who was still very much enjoying her slow dance with the monkey boy and in no way bothered by Yang or Mercury, much less pissed.

Mercury fought hard not to laugh. For an enemy, she was really quite adorable.

“Well, it was nice pestering you with questions,” Yang said with a curtsey. “And it was even nicer dancing with you,” she added with a charming blush.

“Sure thing,” Mercury said as apathetically as possible with one last smirk before pivoting on his heel and bracing himself for the vicious scolding Emerald was probably bursting at the seams to unleash.

Something in the pit of his stomach told him to stop being a douchebag and say something else. Yang had given him more reasons to laugh and smile the past hour than anyone had his entire life. He owed her a little more than a _“sure thing.”_

Before he could stop himself, Mercury gave into the theoretical shoulder angel prodding his gut and spun right back around.

“H-hey!” he called, drawing the blonde’s attention immediately. The look she was giving him made Mercury feel as though the next thing he said might break her should he word it wrong.

“Gauntlets and Greaves,” he told her with a hint of a smirk.

Yang knit her brows together so tightly they could’ve been making a sweater.

“What?” she asked.

“Gauntlets and Greaves,” Mercury repeated, as if those three words should’ve been enough explanation all on their own. “You fight with fists, I fight with feet. We go pretty well together. That’s our label.”

Yang’s confusion melted into a smile bigger and brighter than any smile she’d shared with him all evening, which actually formed in perfect time with the strum of the guitar that signified the end of the song. “I like it,” she said.

With shoulder angel content and stomach void of any uneasiness, Mercury was free to take his leave of his dance partner and approach his _team_ partner. The warmth Yang’s smile brought to his chest faded with every step he took as the gloomy clouds of his reality closed in. He failed to realize the warmth was even there until he started to lose it. It was almost like breathing—no one ever noticed they were doing it until deprived of oxygen. Was this where the phrase, “That person is like a breath of fresh air,” came from?

The words “I like it,” echoed in his mind until their sweet sound faded right along with the momentary surge of warmth. The thing that sucked the most was that Mercury liked it, too. For while it lasted.

 _Damn it,_ Mercury swore, holding Emerald’s gaze and knowing nothing she said could make him feel more empty than losing the only fresh air he’d found in Vale. _I screwed up._

**Author's Note:**

> I really wish this had happened at the dance! This could've been such a cute scene! And giving Mercury a little more conflict about fighting Yang would've been interesting to see. Don't get me wrong, I love how Volume 3 turned out (it's still my favorite volume to date and I still would've had Mercury follow through with the plans.) But seeing him struggle because he met someone who made him question his motives could've been cool. Kinda like Terra from Teen Titans :D


End file.
